Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is a warlord state and a radical religious sect that was established by a former raider in Washington. It claims to be God’s Kingdom on Earth and is dedicated to uniting the peoples of the Northwest under the banner of God. History And There Came Two Angels to Sodom at Even The history of the Kingdom of God began in the 2240s. By that point, David was already an established raider warlord in the ruins of Spokane, Washington. He and Maria were already together, and New Disciples were already rallying to his side. David's raiders were mostly spent fighting Oregon tribals, super mutants, and people who possessed things they wanted. They continued to raid caravans and travelers. In this time, David drifted further and further into Christian fundamentalism under the influence of Maria. A near-death experience in 2249 brought David even closer to Christian fundamentalism, alienating his raider comrades even more. This came to a head in 2252 when David's lieutenant Mask confronted him and the two fought a duel with David winning. Iron Sharpens Iron, and One Man Sharpens Another Judge Not, That You Be Not Judged Culture The culture of the Kingdom of God is chiefly governed by its fundamentalist overlords who enforce their particular brand of post-War Christianity. The Kingdom has a church in every community, and every community in the Kingdom is governed by God’s laws. Judge David and Maria hope to one day be able to run the Kingdom directly to fulfill “God’s vision”, but nowadays, they mostly have to delegate the duties of governance to their Apostles, the Army of God, and the New Disciples. That leads to an uneven level of enforcement of Biblical law, with towns like Western Bethlehem and Nez Perce being fundamentalist strongholds while towns like Moscow and Wally have more of a Wild West atmosphere. The most culturally relevant part of the Kingdom is its churches, post-War structures that serve as the center of the community. Survivalists and raider clans that joined the Kingdom in the past, as well as Judge David and the Apostle’s raider backgrounds, influenced the state considerably. The Kingdom’s communities are often quite well-armed and willing to resort to violence if prompted. That, combined with the Kingdom’s expansionism and hostiliy to tribals, has led to much bloodshed in the recent past. The Kingdom of God is highly patriarchal and the treatment of women within the state is reasonably hellish. Women within the Kingdom are (theoretically) not allowed to own property, carry weapons, and work a paying job. Women are expected to dress modestly, and those stepping outside of societal norms are harshly punished by religious brute squads known as the Hands of David. Motherhood is held as the pinnacle of female rank with mothers with over four children being given awards by Maria. Judge David more or less lets Maria deal with the rights of women and issue decrees on his behalf. Punishment for blasphemy or refusal to convert in the Kingdom of God is execution enforced by the Hands of David or the army. The usual execution in the Kingdom is hanging, with those in West Bethlehem being hanged from the industrial crane at the town’s entrance. Firing squads were more common in the past when the Kingdom was initially rolling through and is still used on occasion when dealing with rebels. Branding (with an upside-down cross to symbolize evil), castration, and banishment are among the terrible punishments for other crimes. Weapons/Technology The technology level of the Kingdom of God is overall pretty low. Pre-War technology is highly valued in the Kingdom but is still relatively rare. That includes both weapons and technology for more peaceful means. The Kingdom of God is at a lower technological level than NCR but is higher in development than the wasteland at least. Most of the Kingdom's settlements have access to clean water and electricity. Scientists and inventors are all but nonexistent in the Kingdom, so technological advancement is currently not a possibility. The most common weapon in the Kingdom is the AK-112. Tactics/Interactions The Kingdom of God uses the Bible as its blueprint for its strategy and tactics in war. In particular, the Kingdom uses the actions of the Israelites in the books of Joshua and Judges primarily to conduct itself in warfare. When the Kingdom is at war with a group or a settlement, it carries out a systematic campaign against civilians similarly to the people of Canaan — men, women and children. Maria in particular advises the Army of God with Deuteronomy 20:17: "You shall not leave alive anything that breathes". For the Army of God during war, the implication is that there are to be no treaties with the enemy and no mercy. The Kingdom's reputation of brutality is well-known throughout the region and mostly scares off enemies who would mess with them. However, a major difference between the Kingdom and the Israelites is that the Kingdom allows intermarriage between their members and surviving female enemies. Also, off the model of the Gideonites, the Kingdom allow those who surrender to them peacefully to live. Since the Kingdom has a relatively low technology level, its military, the Army of God, relied mostly on human wave tactics to defeat its enemies in early years. However, the Kingdom of God finally developed a real chain of command as time marched on and more rebel groups sprung up, with many Apostles forming the top of the hierarchy. That has helped the Kingdom stem the growth of rebellions though it still finds it quite hard to fight guerrilla warfare against rebels whether it be feminists, tribals, or survivalists. Desertion in the face of enemy is a capital offense, with the penalty being hanging. Rape and armed robbery in the military are dealt with on a case by case basis but often are met with firing squads. In the case of settlements that are peacefully assimilated, the Kingdom uses insidious methods to impose their laws upon others. Unlike settlements where most of the population is destroyed and laws are enacted easily, more potentially troublesome settlements are given a degree of autonomy after their conquest. However, the Kingdom will always eventually introduce their laws with the laws relating to women usually being the last. This gradual process has been observed to be the path of least resistance by the Kingdom as settlements become more and more used to the laws instead of getting all of them at once. Nevertheless, the Kingdom’s harsh rules relating to women and individual choice have still led to frequent rebellions with the Army of God forced to fight an increasingly costly guerrilla war against a fractious collection of rebels as time goes on. Notable Individuals Atarah Atarah is the owner of a small bar on the border of the Kingdom in northern Idaho. As a bartender and a women, Atarah lives perched on the edge of a figurative knife in the Kingdom and only survives because of the hypocritical attitudes of the Army of God on the frontier. Atarah is a supporter of rebel groups who are actively fighting the Kingdom, but she keeps that information under wraps for obvious reasons. Atarah, then named Rose, was born in 2262 to scavengers living near Boulder, Colorado. Judge David Judge David is the harsh autocratic ruler of the Kingdom of God who casts himself as the arbiter of God on Earth. Raised by raiders and converted by his wife Maria, a member of the New Disciples, David retains many of the sensibilities he held as a raider while carrying out “God’s will” with a fundamentalist’s vigor. The Judge's origins are surreptitious, with only his Apostles and Maria knowing his history. Bishop Marcellus Bishop Marcellus is an Apostle, a rather maligned Bishop within the Kingdom of God, and a friend of Judge David from his raider days. Never really fit to be a pastor, Marcellus nonetheless was placed in the New Disciples as Bishop while doing very little ecclesiastic work. Most of his time is spent stamping out local rebels with the help of the Hands of David and enjoying the rewards gifted to him by Judge David for his loyalty. A boy named Tubes was born to a raider and his sex slave in the blasted-out ruins of Spokane in the 2230s. Maria Maria is the zealous wife of Judge David, a prominent figure within the Kingdom, and an ardent female misogynist. Raised among the New Disciples in Nicaea, Maria was captured by David when he was still a raider, and she worked to convert him, eventually marrying him. Maria's love of David, her religious zealotry, and her misogyny are results of a rather unique childhood, one she would rather forget but never can fully put behind her. Maria was born on January 18, 2214 to Bishop and Maples, two New Disciples living in Yakima. Othniel Othenial is a rising young figure in the Army of God who has a reputation for dealing with rebels and enemies of the Kingdom in a rather severe manner. Born after the Kingdom was already established, Othniel has fought his way up the local hierarchy going from a Hand of David to a high-ranking member of the Army of God. Othniel is quite infamous for his ruthless punishments of prisoners of war, becoming the highest ranking member of the army who is not a Apostle. Rebels often commit suicide rather than be captured by Othniel. Othniel also is known for his staunch belief in a Flat Earth, something that has gained him much mockery behind closed doors. The baby that would become Othniel would be born in the 2250 to a family of scavengers living in the ruins of the Spokane in shadow of David's already rising power. Sasha Sasha is a mercenary within the Army of God who was born in Alaska to a community of Russians. A recent arrival to the Kingdom, Sasha was hired specifically to assist the Army of God in stamping out the rebels plaguing their lands, as his previous job was hunting down Badlanders for wealthy (and desperate) wastelanders in Canada. Sasha's Russian Orthodox faith, blatant alcoholism, and good sense of humor sets him apart in the evangelical Kingdom of God, but due to his role as a mercenary, he gets by. Sasha was born around 2263 to two loving parents in the small village of Dyra in Alaska. Sela Sela is the wife of the overseer of a farm in Nez Perce who strives to live up to the ideal of the loyal housewife. She spends most of her hours keeping up the house and caring for her children. Already a woman when the Kingdom overtook Nez Perce, Sela remembers the time before rather fondly but tries not to think about it too much. That just causes more pain. Clarissa was born in 2252 in Nez Perce to a mourning mother who had just lost her husband to a raider attack. Reuben Reuben is an old cranky Hand of David in Western Bethlehem who is extreme even by the Kingdom’s standards. The Army of God recruited Reuben when he was just a hermit in the wilderness, and he fought valiantly for the Kingdom in his younger days. Now, the only thing that can put Reuben on a power trip anymore is policing the streets of Western Bethlehem on the lookout for degenerates, rebels, and sluts (especially sluts). Reuben was born around 2208 to some homesteaders in northern Oregon. Quotes Category:Groups Category:Communities Category:Cascadia Category:Cults